Mechanical stoker



April 7, 1936. J, B, MaCKENzlE 2,036,590

MECHANICAL sToKER Original Filed Oct. 9, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY.

April 7, 1936. J. B. McKENznz` 2,036,590

MEcHANIogL sToKER Original Filed Oct. 9, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mom ATTORNEY ifatentedl pr. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MECHANICAL STOKER Joseph B. MacKenzie, Erie, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Standard Stoker Company, Incorporated, a corporation of Dela- Ware Original application October 9, 1928, Serial No. 311,304. Divided and this application April 24,

.. 1934, Serial No. 722,087

i 2 Claims.

Vas applied to locomotive boilers, although its application is not limited to that particular type.

Accordingly, it is the main object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement of the driving motor for the conveyor and to provide an improved arrangement of flexible driving connections between the motor andthe conveyor.

'Othenobjects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings; in which i Figure 1 is a sectional view of the rear of the boiler Aand the front of the tender and stoker, on line AI--I of Figure 4;-

Figure 2-isasectiona1 view, taken through the iiredoor opening on line 2 -2 of Figure 1, showing the distributing plate which passes through the iiredoor opening;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken on line 3 3 of Figure 1, showing the tender conveyor and central portion of the locomotive tender.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing the stoker and driving engine with the firedoor box and guideplate removed; and

Figure 5 is a rear view of the part of the Stoker adjacent to the iiredoor opening.

On these drawings the locomotive is indicated generally at I0, its underframe at Illa and the tender therefor at I I. The. locomotive is provided with the usual rebox I2 and a backhead I3 having a firing opening I4 therein through which the fuel may be delivered by hand or power and also through which access may be had to the rebox from the cab I5, which has the usual floor I6. A similar deck or floor is provided on the tender I I extending forwardly of the coal bunker I8. Slidable plates as at I9 which may be of any suitable construction control the flow of coal from the coal bunker into the stoker indicated as a whole by the letter S.

The stoker S comprises the substantially horizontally disposed transfer conveyor 20 and the upstanding elevator conveyor 2|. These conveyors include the housing members or conduits 23 and 24 and the helical screws 25 and 26, respectively. It will be seen the helical screws in the transfer and elevator conveyors are separated at their cludes a rigid trough 28 and the extensible and contractible conduit section 29 universally connected as at 30 to the trough and at its opposite end carrying a part of the universal connection heretofore referred to at 2l. With this structure it is desirable to form the screw 25 in two sections 25a, 25b, universally connected within the vicinity of the conduit connection 30.

Coal from the bunker I8 is fed by regulation of the slidable plates I9 into the trough 28 of the l transfer conveyor. From the trough it is conveyed forwardly .and delivered into the lower end of the elevator conveyor 2| where the fuel is received by the helical screw 26 and conveyed upwardly through the redoor, box or casing 3| of the elevator conveyor into the ring opening I4, where it is received by the distributing plate 32 and` projected forwardly into the firebox I2 by pressure blasts discharging from the openings 33. The guide-plate 34 assists in the delivery of fuel onto the distributor plate. A redoor mounted on the casing 3| may be opened, as in Figure 5 for hand firing of fuel through the opening I4, or for other purposes.

Inasrnuch as the detail structure of the transfer and elevating conveyors and the distributor as individual units form no part of the present invention, they will not be described further. Reference may be had to my aforesaid co-pending application for a full description of them.

The conveyors are driven by a novel arrangement of driving motor and connections. From Figure 4 it will be seen that the motor 36 is rigidly mounted on the locomotive frame at one side of and spaced from the transfer 4and elevating conveyors. A casing 31 formed with the motor 36 encloses a worm and worm wheel reduction gearing which includes the longitudinally extending driven shaft 38 at the rear end of which there is mounted a universal joint 39 adapted to be flexibly connected to the longitudinally extending shaft 4B (see Fig. 3), which shaft as is well known in the art, extends rearwardly to drive the transfer conveyor through gearing, not shown.

At the opposite end of the shaft 38 there is mounted a bevel gear 4I which in turn meshes with another bevel gear 42 mounted on a transversely extending shaft 43. The inner end of the shaft 43 is operatively connected to one end of an extensible and contractible transversely extending drive shaft 44, which as best shown in Figure 4, is universally connected at one end to the shaft 43 and at the opposite end it is universally connected to a transversely extending shaft 45. On this shaft 45 there is mounted the worm 46 at the base of the elevator conveyor for engagement with a Worm Wheei 41 mounted on the screw shaft 48 operatively connected for driving engagement with the elevator screw 26. Any

` suitable form of housing 49 may be employed to enclose the Worm 46 and the Worm Wheel 41 Within 'which housing the aforesaid gears are journaled for rotation.

Thus from the foregoing description, it wiil be seen that the transfer and elevator conveyors are driven from the same driving motor, the arrangement of which With the conveyors, permits the use of suitable gear reductions to obtain the proper speeds of the conveyors; and the arrangement has the further advantage that the driving motor and its associated reduction gearing may be shifted around on the frame or placed in anyT convenient position Without requiring displacement or any change in position of the conveyors. Y

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a locomotive having a rebox and a tender having a fuel bunker, a Stoker for transferring fuel from said bunker to said rebox comprising a transfer conveyor extending from the tender to the locomotive and an elevator conveyor on the locomotive disposed rearward of said rebox, gearing at the base of said elevator operatively connected thereto, a shaft operatively connected to said gearing for driving the same extending transversely of the rebox, a drive unit Y on the locomotive for transmitting power to said transfer and elevator conveyors comprising a motor separate from and spaced to one side olf the elevator conveyor, gearing spaced from said elevator conveyor mounted adjacent said motor and driven directly thereby, a drive shaft operatively connected to said last named gearing extending -1ongitudinally with respect to saidlocomotive and spaced to one side of the elevator conveyor, means operatively connected with the rearward end of said longitudinally extending drive. shaft for imparting motion to said transfer conveyor, a gear mounted on the opposite end of said longitudinally extending drive shaft, another gear meshing with the aforesaid gear and having a shaft disposed transversely of the rebox, and a shaft between said elevator conveyorV and said rive unit, said shaft being universally jointed Yat its remote ends to the adjacent ends of the said transverse shafts.

V2. In combination, a locomotive having a rebox and a tender having a fuel bunker, a stoker for transferring fuel from said bunker to said rebox comprising a transfer conveyor extending from the tender to the locomotive and an elevator conveyor on the locomotive disposed rearward of said rebox, gearing at the base of said elevator operatively connected thereto, a shaft operatively connected to said gearing for driving the same extending transversely of the firebox, a drive unit on the locomotive for transmitting power to said transfer and elevator conveyors comprising a motor separate from and. spaced to one side of the elevator conveyor, gearing spaced from said elevator conveyor mounted adjacent motor and driven directly thereby, a drive shaft operatively connected to said last named gea-ringer:- tending longitudinally with respect to said locomotive and spaced to one side ofthe elevator conveyor, means operatively connected with the rearward end of said longitudinally `extending drive shaft forv imparting motion to said transfer cona veyor, a gear mounted on the opposite end of said longitudinally extending drive shaft, anc-ther gear meshing with the aforesaid gear and having a .a 

